In response to "Re: Mea Culpa Time - Aviles": That pretty much seals the deal. If softy hates him, he must be pretty good. Remember, softy's favorite all time outfielder is JD Drew who could hit, run throw, field and hit with power, but just not very often. Aviles diid well to get to a grounder on the Pedroia side of of 2B, and should have gone to first right away, granted. Hardly a criminal offense. Oh, and he already has 3 errors, which means he could finish the year with 10 y So far he has been a real bargain and should easily knock in more runs this year than Drew ever did for the Sox in a season.Posted by maxbialystock

I was totally wrong about his as a shortstop - he is not overmatched, and he looks confident and fluid...and his hitting (although waning a bit) is as good as Marco's it seems (or at least comparable) A nice surprise and props to Ben/Bobby for sticking him there and staying with him of course i would still like to see Iggy ply his trade there as well...Posted by georom4

Didn't little bobby v. want Iggy in there??? Wan't he set straight by the powers that be???

Cool, Geo. Mea culpas and apologies make people seem smart and strong....people that can never admit mistakes appear absurd and sad. Like your comment that "genocidal" was "just joking". People that can never admit mistakes and patronize other posters about the subject are abusrd and hopelessly demented.Posted by hankwilliamsjr

It obviously was a joke....you go on and on about it. Absolutely pathetic. The truth is that on the old "Religion and Sports" thread a poster persisted in posted quotes from the bible. I asked him why, he didn't respond, so I started posting quotes from Richard Dawkins, one of which was:

“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

As soon as I posted it I realised how much it reminded me of you and burst out laughing, so I immediately paraphrased it and made it my tag line.

Even funnier, you only complained about a handful of the adjectives including "genocidal", "bloody ethnic cleanser" and "infanticidal" - all unlikely to be true, IMO - but therefore effectively accepting all the others. Hahaha. And you're still going on about it!

I was one of the people very upset at the time of the marco trade... I didn't like mortensons career numbers and thought it was a total salary dump. After seeing Aviles and Mortenson I now see it was an upgrade to the bullpen for years to come and an upgrade at short. I guess that's why I sit on a couch and Ben is the one wheeling and dealing. Don't forget that the money saved allowed us to sign $3+M more in playrs: Ross or Cook & Padilla or Shoppach & PadillaPosted by moonslav59

Salty hasn't turned out too bad either, and Theo gets some credit for him. Ditto the farm system and guys like Iglesias, Middlebrooks, Lavarnway, Doubront, etc.

If there is a lesson, it must be to avoid blockbuster deals. If it gets featured on ESPN, it was probably not a good deal. I'm hoping AGon is an exception to that rule. So far Pujols and Fielder are not.

Mike Aviles has a .306 OBP! He's a butcher for an everyday SS. Last night, he showed why he has no everyday SS instincts or talent. Ball hit sharply, runner going to second. Terrible footwork and anticipation and an enternity to make a decision not to go to second and then he misses the runner at first and doesn't get anyone. Perfect time to try and trade Aviles to a team that needs RH depth at 3B/SS/2B, with would include the Dbacks.Posted by hankwilliamsjr

I am more pleasantly surprised regarding his Defense. I expected decent offensive production and some pop in his bat, but he has overachieved offensively to this point. He has been arguably the biggest bright spot in the first quarter of the season.

Mike Aviles has a .306 OBP! He's a butcher for an everyday SS. Last night, he showed why he has no everyday SS instincts or talent. Ball hit sharply, runner going to second. Terrible footwork and anticipation and an enternity to make a decision not to go to second and then he misses the runner at first and doesn't get anyone. Perfect time to try and trade Aviles to a team that needs RH depth at 3B/SS/2B, with would include the Dbacks.Posted by hankwilliamsjr

Let's see, among AL shortstops Aviles is2nd in Runs3rd in Hits1st in Doubles2nd in Homeruns1st in RBI6th in SB5th in Avg2nd in Slg. pct4th in OPSso you focus on OBP, hilarious and par for the course.

Mike is actually hitting below his career BA (.273 to .286), below his career OBP (.299 to .316), but has greatly increased his slugging % in the first quarter of this year (.427 to .483). His career numbers with Boston are pretty impressive for a sample size approaching 300 PAs (esp for a SS): .289/.314/.466/.779 HRs 10 2Bs 19 RBIs 36 Project to 650 PAs; .289 22 86 (with 46 2Bs/102 Runs) League SS team average: '11: .258/.314/.370/.684 '12: .251/.306/.364/.670 HRs: 12 2Bs: 33 RBIs: 74 Runs: 93 These are whole team totals!Posted by moonslav59

Moon I was projecting him to be about a .275 hiter with between 16-18 home runs and 75 runs batted in with an OPS of .775 so his dip in OBP has hurt his OPS a tad. In actuality his OPS is only slightly higher than the "Fenway effect" would benefit him since coming over from KC.

Mike Aviles has a .306 OBP! He's a butcher for an everyday SS. Last night, he showed why he has no everyday SS instincts or talent. Ball hit sharply, runner going to second. Terrible footwork and anticipation and an enternity to make a decision not to go to second and then he misses the runner at first and doesn't get anyone. Perfect time to try and trade Aviles to a team that needs RH depth at 3B/SS/2B, with would include the Dbacks.Posted by hankwilliamsjr

Now you want to trade Aviles. You love trading RS SS's don't you. BTW Lowrie is as folows:

bloody ethnic cleanser" and "infanticidal" - all unlikely to be true , What is true is your animus is manifest, despite your pitiful attempts to use NYT shill status to make the groundless comment of hatred, supra. I've just burst out into laughter a the NYT shill status given to a mental midget with a distrubed mind.Posted by hankwilliamsjr

I was totally wrong about his as a shortstop - he is not overmatched, and he looks confident and fluid...and his hitting (although waning a bit) is as good as Marco's it seems (or at least comparable) A nice surprise and props to Ben/Bobby for sticking him there and staying with him of course i would still like to see Iggy ply his trade there as well...Posted by georom4

Snakeoil salesman, I have just noted that Aviles is your #3 hitter. When this journey man bum is back on the back bench journey, soon, let's see which minor league team he's hitting third for;)Posted by hankwilliamsjr

I was being fictitious by making fun of your using his OBP to ridicule him while his run production for a lead off hitter is off the charts.

It is quite odd to think you really are as dense as you come off in this forum. Even knowing that you are a troll it is impossible not to make fun of you.